We have been characterizing the morphologic and the hemodynamic abnormalities occurring the Newfoundland dogs with genetically transmitted subaortic stenoisis. Of 176 animals studied thus far, almost one-half have hemodynamic and/or morphologic evidence for left ventricular outflow tract obstruction. The obstruction is absent at birth, appearing after one month of age. The lesion presents clinically by the presence of a precordial murmur, thrill, arrhythmia, congestive heart failure, bacterial endocarditis of the aortic valve, or sudden death. Obstruction to left ventricular outflow is caused by the development of a circumferential, subaortic fibromuscular ring continuous with the anterior leaflet of the mitral valve, virtually identical to the same lesion in humans. The obstruction is associated with left ventricular hypertrophy, intramural coronary artery lesions, myocardial fibrosis, and abnormalities of myocardial blood flow. This form of infra coronary left ventricular outflow tract obstruction has proved to be a useful animal model to correlate pulsed Doppler predicted gradients with hemodynamically determined gradients.